


The Coyote and His Boy

by Charmingwolf



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Gabriel The were-coyote, Happy Ending, Homelessness, M/M, Nobody Dies, Slow Build, Were-Creatures, animal hunting, no porn just corn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2015-02-04
Packaged: 2018-03-10 09:10:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3284801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charmingwolf/pseuds/Charmingwolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A werecoyote named Gabriel scrapes along to survive, breaking into houses for food when he’s desperate. One night, he is caught by a boy named Sam who gives Gabriel an offer the werecoyote wishes he could refuse. Though he is afraid of this stranger, Gabriel can’t help but be intrigued by Sam. How will Gabriel translate his feelings? How will Sam react to Gabriel’s not-so-human side?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Coyote and His Boy

**Author's Note:**

> My artist was tricksterangelgabriel on Tumblr! They did a Fantastic job  
> http://archiveofourown.org/collections/Sabriel_Big_Bang_2014/works/3289739

The sun rose over the red house, its light breaking through the branches of a bush and into his eyes. The coyote yawned and stretched as he slinked out of his makeshift den and into the ungroomed lawn of some lady with too many cats. He looked around and smelled the air. His ears twitched in the silence of the morning. The young coyote turned around to go back under the bush to grab a bag. The bag wasn’t too big: small enough to be carried around but big enough to fit three pairs of clothes, a pair of shoes and a few Tupperware containers. He trotted up to the back door of the lady’s house, eyed the cats through the glass. They were fat and looked delicious; he would have killed to be able to get into the house and have his fill. He glanced up at the windows on the second floor. Everything was still. He contemplated. He took the chance.  
His transformation was quick; it was as easy as breathing for him. He stood up straight, popped his neck and back before picking up his bag. He pulled out a pair of pants, put them on, then got out a shirt -- one from some rock band he had never heard of -- and slipped it on. The coyote put on his shoes and he yawned again as he sauntered back to the bush to pull out a jacket. The jacket was grey khaki with pockets on the chest and a stand up collar. It was his favorite and only jacket, and as he pulled it on he sighed happily at the comfort it filled him with. Almost like he was home.  
"Let’s get this show on the road."  
The coyote shook his whole body before scanning the fence that stood on the borders of the yard. The fence was pretty high but there were a few back panels that were loose enough to come off. He put on his backpack and went to jiggle the panels off. He managed to get one before a sound from inside the house caught his attention. He started to work a little faster. He turned and saw all the cats scramble. A shadow of a figure moved around in one of the upstairs windows. The young coyote hastily popped off the other panel and slipped out of the yard, leaving the panels in the uncut grass. He took a deep breath of the fresh morning air and began his trek.  
He made his way to a diner a few blocks away. There was a bounce in his step and he smiled as cars sped past. He slid his hand through his hair and scratched the back of his neck. A haircut was necessary -- he wondered if the barbershop near the diner would give him another free one.  
The diner was old. It had been around since the town was settled way back when and had a homey, family-owned feel. The coyote walked in and took a seat at the counter.  
“Well, good morning, Gabriel,” a nice waitress greeted. Her nametag read “Sarah”. She leaned on the counter in front of the coyote. “Are you here for your daily coffee?”  
Gabriel sighed deeply as he took off his backpack and placed it on the floor next to his stool. “Good morning. Yeah, coffee sounds great.” His stomach growled, and he growled back at it as he folded his arms on the table. He watched the waitress as she poured his coffee. When the cup was sitting in front of him, he poured sugar packets and a little creamer into the cup. Gabriel grabbed a spoon and stirred the coffee before even thinking of picking it up to drink.  
He sipped at his coffee slowly, feeling the caffeine buzz through his body. He stared at the special for the day written on a chalkboard.  
“Chicken dinner… but it’s, like, breakfast time. Shouldn’t the special be eggs over easy?” He muttered as he took another sip of his coffee. His stomach growled yet again. “Okay, maybe chicken dinner would be nice.” He looked at the clock. Quarter to seven. He had all day to get food and he had to work fast. Thursday was trash day: Gabriel’s least favorite day.  
Any other day, Gabriel could get into the trash cans of any house and not have to worry, but trash day was when it was all taken to the dump and he was left with nothing for the day except maybe a few stray cats. He mentally sorted through all the houses in the neighborhood. There were only a few he hadn’t broken into but that was because of their high security he couldn't afford to mess with. He thought, ‘Maybe I can hit one of my first houses… No, I was almost caught by them. I guess I could try a new place or I could try hunting… Nah, I don't like--’ Gabriel’s train of thought was interrupted by a plate being place down in front of him.  
Hash browns, eggs sunny-side-up, and two pancakes sat on the plate. Gabriel was a little confused; this had never happened before. He had never been offered real food before - it was always cans or packaged stuff he couldn't cook. Sometimes it was leftovers, but never fresh food. He stared at the plate, then gave Sarah a dumbfounded look.  
“You sounded hungry, so I thought I’d whip you up something myself.” Sarah beamed at the coyote and he returned her smile with his own.  
“You spoil me, Sarah, you really do.”  
“Well, go ahead and eat,” she chuckled.  
He nodded and his hands started shaking as he tried to find a fork. When he found it, he started scarfing down the food on his plate. Gabriel finished off the food rather quickly and practically licked the plate clean. He knew that the meal was enough to get him through most of the day so he finished his coffee and stood up to leave. He slung his backpack over one shoulder, thanked Sarah again, and left the small diner.  
Gabriel felt like he was walking on air as he made his way through the neighborhood. Empty trash bins lined the road. A few lay knocked over. Those were normally the ones that the owners put out the day before. The raccoons got to them or Gabriel himself went digging. He decided to be a good Samaritan and picked up a few of the bins so cars didn’t hit them.  
The neighborhood was quiet. Most of the houses were boring colors like yellows and pale browns with covered porches and green lawns. A boy on a bike rode down the sidewalk, throwing papers onto house porches; he swerved past Gabriel and continued on his paper route. Gabe eyed all the houses as he passed them, weighing the risks of each one.  
The house with too many lawn ornaments was one of his favorites. An old woman lived there with nothing but a small dog and her garden. She made pies she never ate and left them out on the windowsill. Casseroles were often what occupied her fridge. Some days, she would invite Gabriel inside for cake and some stories. He normally turned her down but from time to time he liked listening to her tales ofshenanigans passed and looking at the pictures of her grandchildren who never seemed to visit anymore. Her dog didn’t like him though - well, the small Pomeranian didn’t seem to like anyone, really. It barked at anything that came even remotely near the lady’s house.  
Gabriel wandered behind houses, checking gates and fences. He inspected some windows and tried to make a decision about which house he should break into. He arrived at a cul-de-sac and noticed some construction in one of the houses. An array of tools sat in a box on a pile of wood. Gabriel looked around; there was only an empty truck parked in the driveway and the sound of drilling in the house.  
“A perfectly arranged toolbox? For me?” He chuckled to himself and grabbed a hammer and two screwdrivers from the box. He didn't really know what he was going to use them for but they seemed useful to have. The tools found their places in his backpack and he went on his way.  
At about three in the afternoon, school buses started making their way through the neighborhood. The yellow limos stopped every few minutes and dropped off two or three kids at each stop. Gabriel hid in between two houses and watched closely. A pair of boys, both rather tall but one significantly taller than the other, stepped off the bus and walked together down the street and into a pale brown house.  
“Who are they? I’ve never seen those two before,” Gabriel craned his neck around the corner of the house to watch them. He grabbed his backpack and went to check out the house the two boys had entered.  
“Did they just move in? When did the others move out?” Gabriel said to himself as he observed the house. The garage was open and filled with boxes, most of them empty.  
Gabriel snuck around to the back of the house and jumped the fence. The back of the house consisted of a big window on the first floor, a few bedroom windows on the second floor, and a small curtain-covered door that led out to the patio. Gabriel shifted into his coyote form and hid his clothes and backpack in the far corner of the yard. He watched the family move around in the kitchen.  
The boys grabbed snacks, the lady put away dishes, and the man was putting together something on the floor. Gabriel could hear a muffled conversation.  
“How was school?” the lady with blonde hair asked.  
“Boring,” the shorter boy answered, “I think math is going to kill me.”  
The tall one rolled his eyes and said, “They have a good debate team so I might join that.”  
The short one moved from the kitchen to the dining room to help the man with whatever was on the floor. The tall one told the lady he loved her and went upstairs. A light turned on in a second-floor bedroom. Gabriel watched the family for hours until the sun went down. They seemed like nice people and, more importantly, the fridge looked well-stocked  
Around five, the family sat down at their dining room table for a big meal. Gabriel had watched as it was being made and he was drooling. Chicken casserole with green beans was something he had never had before and he wanted it. He watched the family eat and listened to their muffled conversations.  
The lady was becoming friends with a few of the neighbors and the man was hired at a car shop. The boys talked about the classes they were signed up for and the interesting people that were in the classes with them.  
After dinner, the boys went upstairs to work on their homework while the lady put the leftovers away. The man went into another room and the lady soon joined him after grabbing two bottles out of the fridge. Gabriel wandered the backyard; there were a few bushes and a dead flowerbed which he dug into and found a few potatoes that he munched on for a while. He then settled himself in the middle of the yard.  
The sky was clear of clouds and the moon started rising. It was a waning crescent and the stars twinkled quietly around it. The night was still and peaceful. The sounds of other coyote cries cut through the air. The young coyote yipped a response and received shrill howls back. He heard a window slide open and saw the tall boy lean out the window, looking out over the yard. Gabriel hid in the shadows near the bushes and watched the boy curiously. He felt hunger ebb away at him and he wondered how much longer they would be awake.  
Hours passed and Gabriel guessed it was about midnight. He transformed back into a human and put on his clothes. Then he got out the hammer he had acquired and went to the back door. He tested the knob to see if it was left unlocked - of course it wasn’t. Gabriel looked over the glass and quickly hit it with the hammer. He pulled his jacket sleeve over his hand and punched out the remaining glass until he could reach past the curtain and unlock the door. Then he was in.  
The coyote went straight for the fridge. The artificial lights flooded the kitchen and stung his eyes a bit as they adjusted. The chicken casserole was in a big container surrounded by Chinese take-out boxes which he stuffed into his backpack. But he couldn't hold off for the casserole - he grabbed the container and opened it, the casserole’s delicious smell wafting up to his sensitive nose. He began devouring it bare-handed. The hours in the fridge had made it cold but it was the best food he had taken in a while. The container looked expensive so he decided he would just eat the contents and leave the container behind. He knew his face was a mess after he raided people’s fridges and he grumbled about the thought about the grooming he would have to do later. Gabriel looked around the kitchen when he was halfway done with the casserole, in search for sweets. He opened the freezer, only to find no ice cream, and then the cabinets, only to find no chocolate or lollipops of any kind. Sugar was a rarity but he cherished it when he found it. Gabriel returned to his casserole and happily feasted when the lights switched on and a figure with a bat entered the room. Gabriel turned to face the figure and froze.  
The coyote’s eyes grew wide when he saw the tall boy. The kid looked about Gabriel’s age but gigantic, towering over the coyote easily - and with a bat, he was ten times scarier. Normally, Gabriel would have transformed, grabbed his coat and backpack, and made a run for it by this point. But the door was closed.. and he was trapped. He swallowed his food and stared at the boy. He placed the casserole on the counter and put his hands up defensively.  
“Are you hungry?” the boy asked. Gabriel nodded slowly.  
The bat was set down in the doorway. The boy went to the cabinet to get a plate and fork, then shoveled the rest of the casserole onto the plate. He popped it into the microwave and set the timer to two minutes.  
Gabriel, shifting uneasily on his feet, followed the boy with his eyes as he did this. “What are you doing?”  
“Warming up the food. It tastes much better warm.” The boy stopped the microwave to shift the food around before popping it back in and waiting. The boy looked around and saw the glass on the ground.  
“Did you do that?” he asked.  
Gabriel flinched and averted his gaze like a dog caught digging in the trash. The boy sighed and stopped the food at one second so it wouldn’t beep loudly. He handed the plate to Gabriel, commanded him to sit at the table while he cleaned the glass.  
Gabriel hoisted himself on the counter and started eating again. As the coyote ate, he watched the boy clean up the mess he had made.  
‘What is going on?’ Gabriel thought, ‘Shouldn’t he be calling those uniformed men? Maybe he wants to make me feel safe so I don’t run away while he does call the uniformed men.’  
“What’s your name?” the boy asked, dragging Gabriel out of his thoughts.  
Gabriel simply stared at the boy.  
The boy looked at Gabriel, waiting for an answer. Not getting one, he said, “My name is Sam.” He raised his eyebrow and looked at the coyote expectantly, but Gabriel only continued stared at him with fear-filled eyes.  
“I’m not going to call the cops on you if that what you think. I’m hoping that if I’m nice to you, you won’t break in again.”  
They sat in silence for a minute and Gabriel finished his food. He sighed happy and full but then he remembered he couldn’t leave the house and his hands started fidgeting. Sam was looking at him like he wanted answers and Gabriel tried not to look at him.  
“Just tell me your name so maybe if I see you at school, we can become friends,” Sam gave Gabriel the puppy-dog eyes and Gabriel cracked.  
“Ugh, fine. I’m Gabriel. They call me Gabriel. I won’t break into your house again, alright? Just, can I go?” the coyote spoke quickly out of anxiousness.  
“You know, you could have just knocked on the door and asked for food. My mom is a pretty nice lady; she would have given you some,” Sam told him.  
“Look, I live on my own. I take what I can get and I don't work on handouts,” Gabriel said in a defensive manner.  
“It isn't a handout - I'm just offering,” Sam said, breaking out the puppy dog eyes again. “I’m just saying that maybe you can come by whenever you can't get food at other places. I can hook you up with mom’s leftovers so you don’t have to break inagain.”  
Gabriel avoided looking at Sam as much as he could. The offer sounded good but there had to be a catch of some kind. People weren’t just nice to homeless strangers without a price: get a job, stop drinking, stop buying drugs, don’t eat the neighbor’s cat. Okay, maybe not that last one but it could happen.  
So Gabriel just asked, “Can I go?”  
Sam sighed and nodded. “Yeah, sure. Just think about my offer, okay?”  
Gabriel hopped off the counter, grabbed his backpack, and headed for the back door. Sam went to pick up his bat.  
Gabriel fell asleep in the garden in Sam’s backyard. He woke up to the sound of a door opening. Jumping to his paws, he picked up his jacket and backpack.  
“HEY! Shoo!” Sam’s mom yelled at Gabriel before he jumped over the fence.  
Gabriel trotted behind the houses until he found a small circle of trees. He put down his backpack and shifted.  
“Nice lady, my ass…” he muttered to himself. He put on his clothes and propped himself against a tree as he dug out the Chinese food he had snatched from the fridge.  
It was beef and broccoli. It smelled good. Not as good as the casserole from the night before, but good enough to eat. He ate with bare hands again and when the food was gone, he sighed contently, threw the box on the ground, and licked the rest off his fingers. Gabriel sat down and thought long and hard. He took deep breaths and ran his hands through his hair.  
“His offer sounds really nice,” Gabriel said to himself, “I don’t want to get too close, he might turn on me. They aren’t to be trusted.”  
~~~~~  
Sam didn’t sleep too well. When his alarm went off, he laid in bed and stared at the ceiling. Boxes littered his room, books in organized stacks lined the wall, and Sam’s bed lay on the ground with the bed frame stacked near his door. He sat up, digging his toes into the carpet. He stood up, went to his dresser, and pulled out his clothes. He then reorganized everything in the drawers and put on his clothes. Sam looked out his window to see his mom yelling at some wild animal in the backyard. He watched the animal jump over the fence. He thought about the guy from the night before as he walked down the hallway and down the stairs. Sam walked into the kitchen, grabbing an apple and the container on the counter. He put the container in the sink; he should have done it last night but he wasn’t focused on cleaning up. Mary, Sam’s mom, came inside.  
“Did you eat the rest of the casserole?” she asked.  
Sam took a bite from his apple, “Um, yeah. I guess I was hungry.”  
She raised an eyebrow at him as she opened the fridge. “And all the takeout from a few nights ago?”  
“Uh,” Sam shrugged “I don’t know I must have been sleepwalking or something.”  
“Yeah, well, make sure it doesn't happen again. Those leftovers were your dad’s lunch,” She closed the fridge and turned to Sam as he ate his apple.  
“Well, I’m sorry,” he said with his mouth full.  
“What happened?” his mom asked.  
“What do you mean?” Sam gave her a confused look.  
“The window on the door is broken. Did someone break in?”  
Sam sighed and placed his apple on the counter. He folded his arms, letting his head fall back. Mary raised an eyebrow and folded her arms. Sam dragged a hand down his face and took a deep breath.  
“Yeah, someone broke in. I heard the glass break so I got up, took one of Dean’s bats, and went to check it out.”  
“And?” Mary pushed for more information.  
“It was a guy. He looked hungry. And he had already raided the fridge.” Sam paused, then continued, “So I let him go…”  
Mary looked at him in disbelief, then shook her head. “Why didn’t you wake us up. Or call the police?”  
“He looked terrified - I felt sorry for him. I think he’s homeless so I offered him leftovers,” Sam said, then looked at the clock. “You can yell at me later, okay? I need to get ready for school.”  
Mary sighed. “Alright. Well, if you’re going to offer our food away, you are going to help make dinner.”  
Sam chuckled and went back to his room. He picked up his backpack from the end of his bed and checked to make sure everything was there.  
There was a knock on his door.  
“Hey, Sammy,” Dean yawned. “Ready to go?”  
“Uh, yeah.” Sam zipped up his backpack and walked with his brother to the bus stop.  
“So tell me again why we don’t take your car?” Sam asked.  
“It uh... She’s still making that weird noise. Dad and I are working on it.” Dean readjusted his backpack.  
“Right, right,” Sam nodded.  
The bus came and they got on. Dean sat near the front while Sam looked for a seat more towards the middle.  
Sam nudged Dean as he walked by. “Or you just like that girl that sits up front.” Dean rolled his eyes in response.  
~~~~~  
Gabriel stared at the sky through the trees for a few hours. He listened to the whistling birds and the light wind brushing through the trees. He kept thinking about Sam’s offer. It seemed to have stuck itself to his mind and he couldn't get Sam's face out of his head. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.  
"I should go back later. Tell him that I want to take up the offer." He paused. “What, are you stupid? People that nice should not be trusted."  
Gabriel stood up suddenly when he heard a rustling. He then stood still and shifted into animal form. A rabbit showed up just past the trees. He was just down wind and that rabbit smelled amazing. Stalking out of the trees, Gabriel lined himself up with his prey. Then he bolted forward, catching the rabbit before it saw him coming. He picked it up and took it back to his things.  
It quickly went cold and Gabriel ate it down to the bones. He didn't know why he had become so hungry all of a sudden, but with the rabbit on top of Chinese food and the casserole, Gabriel had never felt so full. He chewed on the bones until they broke. Gabriel licked his jowls and paws. Grooming was a task Gabriel didn't do often. He never saw a reason to if people were just going to yell at him anyways. That’s why his fur was a mess. His human form also reflected his animal form. Why, there were matted bits and shed fur covering his body. His hair was greasy and dirty. His skin dark from dirt and days in the sun.  
Gabriel transformed back into his human form and he got dressed once again. He took a deep breath, grabbed his stuff, and started in the direction of the diner.  
When he got to the diner it was around 12 - too late for his coffee. So he crossed the road to the barbershop.  
A bell rang as he opened the door and the head barber greeted him.  
“Ah, Gabriel! It’s been a while,” the barber smiled.  
“Yeah. Hey, so are you still doing that free haircut every other month thing?” Gabriel asked.  
“No, not anymore.” The barber then rested his hand on his chin in thought. “But I think I can make an exception for you.” The barber offered Gabriel a seat.  
Gabriel set down his backpack and took his seat. He shifted in the chair until he was comfortable and the barber put the drape around him.  
“What do you want this time?” the man asked.  
“I don’t know, just clean it up. I liked what you did last time,” Gabriel said, tilting his head and looking at the man through the mirror.  
“Alright, I think I can pull that off again,” the Barber smiled. He started cutting away the matted parts.  
Gabriel’s hair had grown down to his shoulders and waved outward; he often pushed his bangs back and tucked the rest behind his ears. He didn't grow facial hair, but he felt if he did it would grow in patchy and he would look even more homeless than he already did.  
The haircut Gabriel was getting involved nearly all of his hair getting cut off. He was left with a much cleaner hair-do that was naturally wavy in the back and long bangs that he could push out of his face. He always looked nicer with that haircut. It was a shame that his hair grew so fast that he didn't get to keep it for very long.  
Once done, Gabriel thanked the barber, picked up his backpack, and left. He made his way back into the neighborhood, walking along the sidewalk back to Sam’s house. It was about 4 in the afternoon when he got there. The buses had passed him around three and he had sighed as he saw the kids stuffed into the buses. He wondered why they didn't just walk everywhere like he did. Gabriel found walking and running outside a blessing of freedom, but every day he saw humans in cars and buses and he didn’t understand the appeal.  
At Sam’s house, Gabriel stopped and stared at it. He argued with himself about whether or not he should knock on the door and tell Sam that he would take up his offer. What if someone other than Sam answered the door and questioned him? Or worse - pulled a gun on him? What if Sam was joking and just laughed at him? Gabriel didn’t like the chances of something going wrong. So he didn’t go to the door.  
Gabriel went to their backyard fence, transformed, and put his clothes away. Only then did he hop over the fence and go to the window so he could see Sam’s mom cook. Sam was helping his mom by stirring whatever was in the pan in front of him. The mom poured red juice stuff into Sam’s pan and sprinkled crushed up leaves into it. Then, Sam’s mom got another pot out, went to the sink, and filled it with water. Sam continued to stir the stuff in his pan; he watched it very closely, then turned a knob on the counter, and finally put a lid on the pan. Sam smiled at his mom.  
“You still have to make the pasta,” she said as she put the pot of water onto the counter next to Sam’s pan.  
Gabriel wondered what pasta was and his head tilted slightly with his ears perked up. Sam turned to look out the window and his face fell from a smile to a look of shock. Gabriel froze when he really should have ducked down. So when Sam yelled for his mom to look at the window, Gabriel was still quite visible. Gabriel’s eyes grew wider when Sam walked over to the window and stared at him. He felt the sudden urge to transform and talk to Sam or maybe it was to fight him because Sam was looking him directly in the eye. Gabriel didn’t know how to translate his feelings. His ears fell back and he wanted to back away from the window. The back door opened suddenly and Gabriel broke eye contact with Sam long enough to remember how to move and make a run for the fence.  
The coyote jumped over the fence and tried to ignore the yelling directed at him from the other side. He picked up his backpack and ran.  
~~~~~

Sam happily made spaghetti with his mom. He did promise her earlier that morning that he would help her. He stirred the ground beef in his pan; it was starting to turn a nice brown color as it sizzled away. When the meat was all cooked, his mom poured tomato sauce and herbs into the pan and told him to mix it all together. Sam did so as she filled a pot with water for the pasta. Eventually, he turned down the heat on the sauce and put a lid on the pan, then smiled at his mom and told her he loved her. She smiled back and put the pot of water on the stove.  
“You still have to make the pasta,” she said.  
Sam pretended to groan and turned to look out the window. His eyes automatically locked on an animal sitting outside. At first he thought it was a dog, but the more he looked at it, the more he realized that it was a coyote.  
“Mom, there’s a coyote outside. Look.” He pointed to the window.  
His mom spun around and immediately went to the cleaning cabinet. Sam slowly walked closer to the window - the coyote did not move. It seemed to be staring at him. Sam almost tapped the glass to break the animal’s trance but he just watched in awe. The coyote looked in no way clean or well taken care of but it was a wild animal so Sam didn't expect it to look like a house pet. The animal still looked beautiful in a wild way: golden eyes and no visible scars. Sam frowned when the coyote’s ears flattened and then his mom burst through the back door with a broom. The coyote reanimated and jumped over the fence.  
Sam stood up from his kneeling position and sighed. Something about those eyes seemed familiar but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He turned his attention to setting the table for dinner and waiting for the water to boil. His mom patrolled the backyard with her broom to scare away any other wild intruders. When she came back inside, she put the broom away, then went to talk to Sam’s dad.  
When the water was boiling, Sam put in the spaghetti, set a timer for ten minutes, then went up to his room. His books were laid out on his bed. Mostly, he had math and science homework but there was also a paper for English he had to do. Sam got his backpack and dug out his notes for math. He had written down the homework for that night in his notes; it was twenty problems long and, even though he thought it was simple, the teacher still wanted all the work to be shown. Sam picked up his math book, then sat at his desk.  
He had just finished the first problem when the timer for the pasta went off. Sam got up and went downstairs. He drained the pasta, then called everyone to the table. All throughout dinner, Sam kept looking over to the window in the kitchen.  
“Hey, are you all right?” Dean asked as he poked Sam with his fork.  
“Huh?” Sam shook his head and looked at Dean. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just wondering if that coyote would come back or not.”  
“You can’t keep it as a pet,” John joked.  
“Yeah, I know. I just feel like it’s been in our yard before,” Sam pushed his pasta around before twirling it on his fork and taking a bite.  
“There was another one earlier this morning that I scared out of the yard,” Mary mentioned.  
Sam chuckled then looked over to the window again.

~~~~~  
Gabriel kept running. He ran and ran until his legs ached and his paws burned. He slowed to a trot, then a walk, then he flopped down, panting like crazy. His ears were perked and alert as he tried to calm down. He didn't hear anything threatening and the houses around him didn't sound like they had dogs. Though he couldn't quite bring himself to get up again and hop a fence.  
‘Damn it. Now I can never go back to Sam’s. What if he knows what I am? Humans can tell, can't they? They can tell when something is off about an animal?’ His brain was going a mile a minute, second guessing his choices and wondering how his life got to this point. Should he have tried harder to have a normal life as a human? But he wasn't human. He never wanted to be human. He liked his life as a free wild coyote. It helped him forget.  
Gabriel propped himself into a sitting position and stared at his backpack. He nudged it open, pulling one of the boxes with Chinese food out and ripping it open to eat all of the contents. Gabriel pulled out another box and repeated the process, getting a few mouthfuls of tasteless rice. He looked around, trying to find a landmark to know where he was. He heard a faint meowing to his left - Gabriel was on the complete opposite side of the neighborhood at the Cat Lady’s house. The panels on the fence were still gone. Gabriel picked up his backpack and made his way into the backyard. He found the bush from a few nights ago and curled up under it.

 

The next morning, Gabriel woke up and went through his routine of getting dressed, staring at the cats through the window, the usual. However, when he went to get his jacket, he found that it wasn't under the bush or in his backpack.  
“I could have sworn I...” He whispered to himself, “It was… Shit.”  
He hit his head and groaned. He didn’t put it in his backpack before he jumped the fence to see Sam’s family again. He left it there at Sam’s house. Gabriel didn't want to go back there - he was afraid that they would recognize him. Gabriel needed his jacket though. It was worth the risk if he got his jacket back. His breathing became sporadic as he thought of all the possibilities that could happen when he got back to Sam’s. What if his mom sees him and chases him away again? What if Sam sees him and tries to help him and makes him do things?  
Gabriel hoped his jacket was where he had left it and that no one had taken it. He took his sweet time making his way back to Sam’s house, staying behind the houses. He jumped when dogs barked at him, he jumped when people started their lawn mowers, and he flinched when people had loud conversations on their phones. Now he remembered why he kept his jacket close to him - it was just enough of a home to keep him sane and feeling safe. Even on hot summer days Gabriel made absolutely sure that he had his jacket at least around his waist. Gabriel could feel himself shaking and he didn't like it. He didn't like being on edge. So when he saw the back of Sam's house and the chain link fence protecting the backyard, his breathing steadied.

~~~~~~  
It was a lovely Saturday. There were a few clouds in the sky and the sun was just around its highest spot. Sam was told to clean up the garden and mow the lawn while Dean helped organize boxes and put up pictures in the living room.  
Sam walked outside, took a deep breath, and walked around the backyard. He looked past the chain link fence to the small organization of trees. Sam really liked the new house. School wasn't too bad and everything seemed to be going the way he had hoped. He looked at the grass on the other side of the fence and saw a small butterfly on a patch of flowers. The day really was a nice day. Though Sam noticed something strange: a grey patch in the grass.  
“That doesn’t seem right,” Sam muttered to himself, then went through the fence gate to check it out.  
Upon further inspection, the grey patch turned out to be a jacket. It looked too small for Sam, but he picked it up and went back into the yard. He placed it on the porch and went to the garden. He pulled on some gloves, got on his knees, and started pulling weeds and dead plants. There were a lot of rotting things in the garden. Tomatoes, some kind of melon. He found carrots and a few potatoes as he dug around that still looked edible. When the garden was cleaned up and ready for new plants, Sam turned his attention to the lawn mower. The grass in the yard wasn’t obscenely long, but long enough that, when you stepped in it, one's foot seemed to disappear.  
Sam took the lawn mower out to the far end of the yard so he could work his way from the outside in. Then, he ran back to the house to plug in the cord. The yard was a good size with most of the left side being taken up by the garden. There weren't automatic sprinklers but the previous owners had left a few sprinklers in the garage. The house had been on the market for a few months before Sam’s mom and dad came to town, house hunting. It was perfect: a two-floor house with five bedrooms, one for the parents, and one for each of the boys; an office; and a guest room. Before actually moving in, Sam and Dean were allowed to paint their rooms. Dean painted his a light grey and then covered the walls with posters. Sam chose a creamy white and a burgundy accent wall.  
Sam was halfway done with the lawn when he saw someone walking behind the houses. He stopped the lawn mower and watched the person walk closer. The person had his arms crossed and his shoulders brought up-- they looked nervous or scared. Sam wondered if anything was wrong. Should he help him.  
The person, Sam soon realized, was someone he knew. The person stopped at the middle of the fence and looked around, walking in a small circle.  
“Where is it? It was right here…” he insisted to himself.  
“Hey, are you alright?” Sam asked, walking over to the fence.  
The person looked up quickly and froze in place. Then Sam remembered.  
“Hey, you’re Gabriel, right?” Sam asked, leaning on the side of the fence. Sam liked Gabriel’s eyes; they were such a pretty golden color, like melted caramel or honey, and had such wildness to them.  
Gabriel nodded, not blinking as Sam talked to him. Sam could have sworn he had seen those eyes outside of the other time he had met Gabriel but he pushed his other questions aside.  
Sam tilted his head slightly. “Did you lose something?”  
The coyote nodded again. “Yeah m-my jacket. It's grayish and has pockets on the chest area…” His voice faded as he described the details, then his voice came back. “I really need it back.”  
“I found one that fits that description. Hold on, let me get it.” Sam stood up straight and went to the porch.  
Gabriel considered running away again. Why did Sam keep staring at him? It made him feel weird.  
Sam returned and handed the jacket to Gabriel. The coyote snatched it from Sam’s hands and started sniffing it before putting it on. He sighed in relief as the fabric lay on his shoulders and the smell of his small home surrounded him. Then he said something before he could stop himself.  
“I’ll take your offer for food.” Gabriel felt the words fall from his lips but he couldn’t believe he was saying them.  
Sam’s eyes seemed to sparkle a little. “Really?”  
Gabriel couldn’t back out now. “Yes, your mom’s cooking is really good.”  
“Well, do you want to come over today and pick up more or-”  
Gabriel cut him off, “No, I’ll be fine today. I'll be fine for a while. Thursday is the hardest day to get food so can I come by next Thursday?”  
“Yeah, of course! Why is Thursday so hard?” Sam asked, leaning on the fence again.  
“Uh.” Gabriel couldn’t tell Sam the real reason. He would offer Gabriel more things Gabriel couldn’t accept. “I don’t really know. It’s just always been hard to find things on Thursday.”  
Sam stared at Gabriel for moment, the gears in his brain clearly working hard to take a guess at why Thursdays were hard but he didn’t say anything besides, “Well, then I guess I’ll be seeing you Thursday.” Then Sam gave Gabriel a winning smile that could make anyone’s knees go weak.  
Gabriel smiled back, then said, “Yeah.. So, um... Goodbye?”  
“See ya later,” Sam said, walking off to the lawn mower and starting it up again.  
Gabriel watched Sam for a minute, then turned to walk back to the Cat Lady’s house to see if any of her cats had been let out on accident.

~~~~~  
On Wednesday, Gabriel stared down the Gas ‘n Sip. He had gotten enough food from dumpster-diving but he was craving sugar. He had left his backpack and jacket at the Cat Lady’s house so he stood in front of the Gas ‘n Sip in his coyote form. The door was propped open because the cashier didn't want to hear that damned bell whenever someone walked in. Gabriel had only ever stolen from the gas station in the winter and a few times he got a little cocky almost got himself killed.  
The cashier was occupied with a magazine when the coyote slipped into the shop. He trotted to the candy aisle. Looking at his options, he concluded that he wanted all of it. He wanted the lollipops, the chocolate bars, the gummy bears, the sour worms - all of it. But Gabriel could only fit so much in his mouth so he had to make a decision. The lollipops were in a bag and up high on the display so the coyote got up on his hind legs to grab them. But in the process, he knocked over the gum and chocolate displays. He managed to get one bag before he heard the cashier start walking around. now he had to make a run for it. He bolted down the aisle and skidded around the corner, running parallel to the wall of drinks. If Gabriel had looked back, he would have seen that the cashier had a gun and was taking aim as Gabriel bolted to the door.  
The sound of a gunshot and crashing glass made Gabriel jump and skid to a stop before shaking his head and continuing to run as fast as he could to the neighborhood. Gabriel ran back to the Cat Lady’s house to grab his backpack. He stuck his head into the hole in the fence and saw the lady walking around her first floor. Cats followed her closely as she wandered around the kitchen filling the food bowls. Gabriel trotted into the yard and shoved his backpack out through the hole in the fence. Then he transformed, quickly got dressed, and ripped open the bag of lollipops. Gabriel pulled out an orange one, taking off the wrapper and sticking the candy into his mouth. The sweetness of the artificial flavoring flooded his mouth and made him hum in pleasure. He sat behind the Cat Lady’s fence for a while, content with his life at that moment. Gabriel bit down hard on the lollipop, crushing it. He took the stick out of his mouth and flung it into the grass. The coyote stuffed the lollipops into his backpack, stood up, and started his journey around the neighborhood.  
The house under construction now had two trucks parked outside and five people working inside it. Four of the men were painting; one stood by and watched. Gabriel thought the house looked fine the way it was before and didn’t need bright pink paint - 'To each his own,' Gabriel figured and kept on walking.  
He walked a few blocks and turned a corner, only to come face-to-face with for-sale signs in front of many of the houses.  
“Wow, is it really that bad here?” He stopped in front of one of the houses and kicked the sign. “Maybe it's a good thing that I took Sam’s offer. The uniformed men might try and investigate my break-ins.”  
Gabriel stopped in front of each of the houses and tried to remember who lived there before. The one with the extremely well-cared-for green lawn used to house a retired soldier. When Gabriel broke in there, it was so organized and clean that the coyote was afraid to touch anything. The next house used to belong to a married couple with a few kids. They were a picture-perfect Christian family that gave a Bible to Gabriel whenever he passed.  
Gabriel got to a pale green house at the end of the street when people started walking out of it. Three ladies: two holding hands and the other smiling wide and making big hand gestures towards the house. The two ladies looked really happy, Gabriel noticed as he kept walking. He wondered if that's how all people looked when they found a home. He wondered if he could ever feel that way. That wasn't his life though. He was a wild animal and could never have a real home.  
Gabriel crossed the road and listened to the silence of midday. No cars were driving by, nobody was walking, no dogs were out - just the lovely silence of the world. The coyote took a deep breath and folded his arms behind his back and kicked his feet out as he walked. In the distance, rain clouds were organizing. The clouds were darker the further away they were but they seemed to be taking their time getting to the neighborhood. Gabriel liked the sound of rain. He liked the fresh smell it left behind and the way the world seemed clean and pure. He loved rainbows - they reminded him of happier times. However, the coyote did not like getting soaked to his bones he did not like getting his jacket wet. And he absolutely did not like feeling like if he had been born a mere human, he wouldn't have to deal with these issues.  
Hours passed and the sun was going down just as the clouds reached Gabriel’s neighborhood. The smell of the potential downpour surrounded the young man. The heaviness of the the watery air weighed on his shoulders as he tried to find a place to escape the rain. Before he could find any place to hide, lightning struck and thunder boomed. Gabriel’s eyes grew wide as he ran to the nearest house, jumped the fence. He shifted into his coyote form, leaving his backpack, clothes, and jacket in the grass of the yard. The coyote stayed on the covered porch and watched as his most precious things got completely and utterly wet.  
'Great. Just what I wanted from today,' he thought as he laid down, 'There goes my candy.'  
The rain lasted long enough for Gabriel to doze off to the ringing of the tin roof above his head as every drop hit it . When the rain stopped, the clouds still hung in the sky like a painting. But as they moved across the sky, stars shone through like holes of light in a dark, ever-changing blanket. Droplets still fell from the roof and hit the edge of the concrete porch with soft blips. The flowers seemed to be standing up a little higher. One could practically hear the grass growing. The moon rose high in the cloud-scattered sky and the neighborhood was clean and fresh.  
Gabriel slept through this beautiful night and woke up to a dog barking at him through a door. The coyote hopped to his feet and walked slowly over to his things. He grabbed his jacket and backpack first, then hopped the fence. He placed the items down, then jumped back over to get his shoes. He didn’t care much for the outfit so he left it. By the time the coyote had gotten his shoes and back over the fence, two dogs had been let out and were barking up a storm at the very scent of Gabriel. The coyote nudged his shoes into his backpack, picked up his backpack and jacket, then entered into a collection of trees.  
The items were heavy and soaked. After shifting, the coyote sighed as he pulled on a pair of wet pants and shoes. He would live without a shirt for a bit. And he wrapped his jacket - his poor jacket - around his waist.  
It was Thursday - trash day - and the first time Gabriel would go to Sam’s house for food. People had already put out their trash cans. The trash truck came by as Gabriel walked to the diner. Then he remembered humans typically don't like people walking around without shirts so he got one of his remaining shirts out and put it on.  
Sarah was working the counter again, like every morning. Gabriel sat down on one of the stools.  
“Hey, Sarah. Sorry that I haven't been here for a few days,” he sighed, smiling.  
“You’ve been gone for almost a week. I thought you had skipped town,” Sarah said as she placed a cup of coffee in front of Gabriel.  
Gabriel chuckled and took a sip of his coffee after adding all the sugar and cream he needed. He then leaned down to his backpack and took out the bag of lollipops he had gotten the other day. He hadn't checked on it when he picked up his backpack that morning. To his surprise, the candies weren't too badly damaged. They had been protected by the plastic bag - this made the coyote feel a little better about his day. He put the bag away and continued to drink his coffee.  
“Are you doing anything interesting today, Gabriel?” the waitress asked as she cleaned the counter.  
Gabriel shrugged. “Not really. Just gonna do what I do everyday: walk around the neighborhood."  
“Doesn’t that get boring, walking around the same place?”  
“Not really. Stuff is constantly changing. Did you know that someone is painting their house bright pink?” Gabriel asked in disbelief. “Like, blinding neon pink." He made an attempt at describing, opening and closing his hands like flashing lights.  
Sarah’s eyebrows raised. “Really? That's crazy.”  
The coyote nodded. “I know!” He took another drink of his coffee then looked at the clock. It was a few minutes to 8. Gabriel finished his drink then took out a lollipop and put it in his mouth. “I’ll see ya tomorrow, Sarah.”  
“Bye, Gabriel.” She waved goodbye as he walked out the door, backpack slung over his shoulder.  
Gabriel went down his normal routine of walking past the house with an old lady and her dog, the Cat Lady’s house, and the pink house. He saw the paper boy a few times. He saw a dog that had escaped from its house. Gabriel thought about helping it home but then it barked and growled at him so he decided against it. Even after he had left the dog alone, it followed Gabriel like it was suspicious of him.  
“What do you want, mutt?” Gabriel asked it after a block or two of it following him. The dog growled at him but its tail was wagging.  
“What, do you want to play? I am a dangerous creature,” the coyote said growling back.  
The dog was completely white with a black nose, it had husky features in its face but had medium length fur. Its body resembled that of a labrador and its tail was slightly curved. The dog just stared happily at Gabriel, wagging its tail.  
“Yeah, I know I seem like fun but really I'm dangerous,” Gabriel insisted but the dog just kept staring. Gabriel sighed, “I don't want to play, alright?”  
The dog yipped.  
“Don't call me a liar. I don't want to play!” the coyote yelled.  
It grumbled playfully in response.  
“Don’t you have a human to play with?”  
The dog looked at the ground and its tail slowly stopped wagging.  
“Oh, they arent home. Well,” Gabriel rubbed his chin and thought for a bit. He knew that there was a park near by and it wouldn't hurt to play with a dog. It wasn't like it would get in the way of his plans. “Fine. Come on. Let's go to the park.”  
The dog’s ears perked up and it started trotting next to Gabriel, tail wagging and tongue lolling out its mouth. The park was pretty nice. It had a good amount of grass surrounding a playground with two slides and a swing set. Gabriel put down his backpack under one of the slides and shifted into his coyote form.  
The dog hopped around then got into a play pose with its butt in the air, tail wagging. Gabriel yipped, jumped in the air and then ran in a circle. The dog hopped up, barked and chased the coyote around and around until Gabriel stopped, watched the dog skid to a halt, then bolted for the playground equipment. He ran underneath the steps and hid, the dog barked at him as it chased after. When the dog had just barely passed the steps, Gabriel ran from under them to the swing set. The dog didn’t quite know how to respond and barked. The two were now on opposite sides of the park; they looked at each other, the dog’s tail wagging and its tongue lolling out and Gabriel’s tail wagging slowly. The coyote let out a few yips. The dog took a few steps toward him, yipping back. Then Gabriel ran toward the dog, growling playfully. They then wrestled until they were both lying down, facing each other, panting and exhausted.  
Gabriel got up and went to his clothes; he nudged them into a pile, picked them up and went into the playground bathroom. He came out fully clothed and still slightly out of breath.  
“That was fun. We need to do it again sometime,” Gabriel said to the dog. The dog rolled over and exposed its belly, which Gabriel leaned down to pet. It was reaching noon and Gabriel decided he needed to get walking if he wanted to get to Sam’s house before the kids got home.  
The dog stayed behind at the park and the coyote carried his backpack with him as he walked down the sidewalk. A lollipop in his mouth and a slight smile on his face, the coyote enjoyed the slight breeze around him that carried the smell of grass and pine trees. Summer was ending - it was very clear to Gabriel even though the leaves on many of the trees hadn’t started changing yet. It wasn't too cold yet but Gabriel was certainly looking forward to finding an abandoned house to stay in for the winter. The sky was speckled with clouds.

 

~~~~~  
The buses dropped Sam and Dean off near their house. They talked about the odd things that happened on the bus: the kids freaking out about favorite shows, the arguments over details and the validity of events that happened. Sam didn't understand what the show was about nor did he really care about it. But Dean was apparently very invested in the show even though he had never heard nor seen the show before in his life.  
“I guess you do need something to do while you don't do your homework or work on your car,” Sam chuckled.  
“Hey, everyone needs a favorite TV show to pass the time. And just because you choose to study instead of relax a little isn't my fault,” Dean said as he opened the front door and shrugged. Then the car comment hit him. “And I do work on my Baby!”  
Sam rolled his eyes and went up to his room. He put down his backpack and flopped down on his bed. School was exhausting, homework was piling on top of other homework. Sam was taking all of the hard classes - he should have expected it to start adding up. He rolled over onto his stomach and groaned; he wanted to take a nap but his school work and mother wouldn't let him. He rolled back over, sat up, went to his desk with his backpack and started unloading all of the books and notebooks he needed for the stacks of homework he needed to start. Pencil in hand and a science lab laid out in front of him, Sam started to work.  
Sam’s mom knocked politely on the door frame.  
“Hey, sweetie. How was school?” She asked.  
“Nothing too special - mostly long explanations of how graphs work on a calculator,” Sam grumbled as he finished up a problem in his math notebook.  
His mom walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “How about you take a break and help me with dinner?”  
Sam immediately put down his pencil and sat up from his slouched position. He sighed, then suddenly gasped as he remembered. “The homeless kid is coming by. He said he would come by every Thursday.”  
“Oh, he said yes?” Mom asked.  
“Yeah, he did. He came by on Saturday and told me he would come by,” Sam said as he got out his chair and walked out of his room with his mom.  
She tapped her chin with her index finger as she spoke, “Well then, you better make more than the normal portions tonight. I think we should have lasagna."  
Sam agreed that lasagna was a great idea and when they entered the kitchen, he went searching for the ingredients. It took some searching for the noodles and the right-sized pan. Sam’s mom started making the ricotta filling while Sam started on the noodles and ground beef.  
Sam wasn't much of a cook. He knew how to cook only meat and pasta so complicated things were normally done by his mom, but he was learning from only a week of helping her. The house was pretty quiet with the only sounds being the muffled TV sounds from the living room and the sizzle of meat turning a lovely brown. Sam’s mom put the ricotta in the fridge and gathered the onions, garlic, and seasonings. She cut up the onions and garlic, then put them in with the meat along with the seasoning. After a minute or so, she took out the noodles. Sam already had a can of tomato sauce next to him so after mixing all the seasons together with the meat, he poured that in and mixed it together. Covering it with a lid, he let it sit for a while.  
“What do you have left for homework?” his mom asked.  
“Just math. And I have to read a book. It's Tales Of Two Cities," Sam said, leaning on the counter next to the sink.  
“Oh, I remember reading that in school,” his mother said. She started layering the sauce and pasta into the pan.  
“I'm looking forward to Brave New World. It's supposed to be really inspiring,” Sam said. His mom finished up the lasagna and put it in the oven, then set a timer.  
“Well, go finish your homework, sweetie. I’ll have Dean set the table in a little bit." She smiled and shooed him away.  
“I love you, mom,” Sam told her as he made his way up to his room.  
Sam went back to his homework, back to the dull math with an insane repetitiveness. 

~~~~~

As the sun went down, Gabriel approached Sam’s house. He had been wandering that part of the neighborhood for a while. He shifted and left his stuff outside their fence, then went to the back window. No one was in the kitchen and he relaxed. The grass was nicely cut and the garden was clean.  
‘Is that what Sam was doing on Saturday...? Humans are weird. I liked the grass the way it was,’ Gabriel thought. He trotted to the front of the window then into the middle of the yard to lay down. The coyote was tired - it had been a long day of walking and not eating anything of nutritional value.  
His mouth spread wide in a yawn then he rested his head in the grass. His eyes started to feel heavy as he breathed in and out. The last bit of sun disappeared behind the dully colored houses. The sky was still a rich pink behind the remaining clouds.  
The sound of a window opening made Gabriel's head shoot up to look for the source. A boy was leaning out of the open window, looking out at the pink aftermath of the sunset. Gabriel hopped to his feet, prepared to run, when Sam looked down into his backyard and saw the coyote. Sam ran away from the window as Gabriel backed up to the fence. He wasn't sure what his next move should be; he wanted to stay near the house so he could get his food faster but he also didn't want to get chased off. A soft bang came from the kitchen window. Sam was crouched down in front of the window with his hands pressed on it. He had an intense look on his face that confused Gabriel.  
'Why would you be interested in a wild animal? Don't humans have pets for that kind of stuff?" Gabriel thought.  
He found himself taking small steps toward the back porch before he could stop himself. Something in his heart felt off. Something pulling at him until he was face-to-face with the boy. 

He sat quietly and waited for something to happen. Sam just looked happily at the coyote. Time seemed to move a little slower than usual.  
"Wow, you are beautiful," Sam said through the glass.  
The coyote tilted his head. No one had called him beautiful before. It was new - a nice new. Something that he could get used too.  
The coyote then heard a yell. The yell was Sam's mom.  
"DEAN, COME SET THE TABLE!"  
It was followed by heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. The shorter boy that Gabriel assumed to be Dean slid into the kitchen as Sam stood up. Gabriel took his chance to run away.  
~~~~  
"Whatcha looking at, Sam?" Dean asked as he grabbed some plates and silverware.  
Sam looked back out the window for a second, then back at Dean.  
"It was nothing. I thought I saw an animal outside. I think the coyotes like this house for some reason."  
"Maybe it's just you, little bro!" Dean smiled. "Now help me set the table so I don't feel mom's wrath."  
Sam laughed and picked up some silverware. "You know, that homeless kid is coming by later after dinner for leftovers."  
"Oh, really? What did he do to get that deal? Break into the house?" Dean put down a plate.  
"Yeah, he did. Last week actually” Sam put down a fork and knife.  
Dean stopped halfway through placing another plate on the table when Sam had answered his question. He put the plate down softly.  
"You offer food to people who break in?"  
"He seemed hungry and mom said it was alright. He doesn't seem like a bad kid. Just... You know. He has to deal with bad circumstances."  
Dean nodded. "Right, right. Well, if he does break in again, warn him that I have a gun and Dad has a gun and we will not hesitate to shoot."  
"I know, Dean, I know. I don't think he’s gonna break in again. He’s just picking up some leftovers and going on his way."  
Dean finished putting the plates on the table then took his seat.  
Mary came into the dining room. "Good job, you two. Sam, go get the lasagna out of the oven please"  
"Yes, mom." Sam went to the oven and opened the drawer next to it to grab the oven mitts. He opened the oven and breathed in the wondrous smell. Then he pulled out the meal and brought it to the table.  
"Smells good," John said approvingly as he took his seat. Sam placed the meal on the table after putting a mitt down and took his seat next to Dean.  
"Make sure to leave some left over," Mary warned, "We have a guest coming in an hour or two to pick up leftovers."  
"Alright, honey." John kissed her on the cheek and started to serve the lasagna. They had a lovely dinner and not long after they had finished, the doorbell rang. Dean picked up the dishes and Mary and John went off to the living room. Sam went to the front door.  
Sam answered the door with a smile, “Hey!”  
Gabriel had been scratching his face before Sam answered the door. When it opened, his hand shot to his side and he stood up straight. He stared at Sam with wide eyes. Sam just smiled and started to wonder why he liked Gabriel’s eyes so much but also why Gabriel always seemed to freeze up when Sam talked to him.  
It took a moment for Gabriel to say, “Um...Hey. Long time, no see?”  
“I guess it's been a few days.” Sam opened the door wider and motioned for Gabriel to come in. “We just finished dinner so you're welcome to wait inside while we put the leftovers in a container."  
The other boy looked inside cautiously. "I think I'd rather stay outside."  
"Aw, come on. You've already been inside before. Come take a seat," Sam insisted.  
Gabriel sighed and took a step inside. The house looked clean. Clean wasn't what Gabriel was used to. He had only ever broken into houses at night or when they were already abandoned so a well-furnished, well-taken care of house was not what he was expecting. Sam closed the door behind Gabriel then led him to the dining room.  
In the dining room, Gabriel stood awkwardly in the entrance. The walls were clean and white and there were nice decorations and pictures. Gabriel felt like he shouldn't be there, that he was intruding and taking their food.  
"You can sit down and eat if you want," Sam said politely  
"I thought I was getting food and leaving," Gabriel said back.  
"Well, maybe it would be nice to sit down for a bit. You said Thursdays were hard right?" Sam pointed out from the kitchen.  
“I...I guess it would be nice,” Gabriel felt like it wasn't really a question. It was more like an order. So he hesitantly took a seat at the end of the table. Sam came back and placed a plate in front of Gabriel.  
Gabriel sat with his hands in his lap and his backpack on the ground next to him. He felt even worse sitting in the nice wood chairs with that nice wood table in front of him. He was dirty and disgusting but Sam was treating him like family. This wasn't normal. This wasn't normal at all. But Gabriel held his tongue and resisted the urge to run from this house.  
Gabriel sat quietly as he was served food. He stared at his fork and knife and napkin and he didn't know how to interpret any of it. Sam was being too nice for it all to be real but Gabriel let it happen. Then he found that he was looking at sam. Sam had nice features - strong features... He would make a good coyote. He would survive well on his own if he had to. Sam looked like he could take on anything and not be afraid. Gabe shook his head and looked down at his now loaded plate. The lasagna was slightly cooler from sitting out, but as Gabriel chowed down, he found it to be absolutely amazing. The cheese was gooey and the meat was seasoned very well and he soon found himself looking at Sam to serve him more. Sam motioned for him to wipe his face with the napkin but Gabriel didn't know what that motion meant so he didn't do it. He just let the mess on his face sit as Sam gave him more. Half way into taking another bite, he realised what was happening. Sam wanted to talk to him. Gabriel finished this serving and said, "I would like to go please."  
Sam tilted his head, confused. "But don't you want more?"  
"I can eat the rest later. I need to go," Gabriel insisted.  
"Alright," Sam sighed. He stood up and grabbed the lasagna tray, walking to the kitchen.  
Gabriel watched Sam closely, unsure of how he should handle the situation. So he sat and stared until Sam was back with an expensive-looking tupperware container filled with lasagna. Gabriel took it and put it in his backpack.  
The coyote stood up. "Thank you for the food. Same time next week?"  
Sam nodded. "Yeah sure. Hey, wait a second, " He grabbed a napkin and offered it to Gabriel. "Wipe your face please. You look ridiculous.”  
Gabriel's face was covered in sauce. He looked at the napkin, slightly confused. He tilted his head, looking from the napkin to Sam's face and back.  
Then he grabbed the napkin and rubbed it over his face. When he pulled it away, it was covered in red sauce. Gabriel held it back out for Sam to take.  
"Much better," Sam smiled. He took the napkin and led Gabriel back to the door. "Enjoy your food. See ya next week?"  
Sam opened the door for Gabriel who quickly walked through it.  
Gabriel nodded. "Yeah, of course." He readjusted his backpack and turned around to face Sam again. "But can we skip the whole dinner table thing. I mean it was nice and everything," he moved his hand in a circle, "But I don't feel comfortable eating like that."  
"Oh, sure." Sam nodded. "But you might want to come by a little later if you want us to be ready."  
Gabriel pursed his lips in thought. "I can do that." He turned around and waved. "See you in a couple of days. I'll return the container then."  
Sam waved back even though Gabriel wasn't watching. He closed the door and went up to his room. Homework still sat on his desk and the window was open letting in cool night air. He closed his window and sat down at his desk.  
~~~~~  
Gabriel walked away from Sam's house as calmly as possible. He took deep breaths and tried to get as far away from Sam's house. Walking alone after dark was nice - the sounds of the wilderness surrounded Gabriel and he sighed. Where was he going to stay tonight? When should he try to get the tupperware container back?  
Gabriel pushed that thought away and focused on trying to find the abandoned house he had seen earlier. He walked down a few blocks and found the cul-de-sac with nothing but houses for sale. He chose one and found the door was nicely unlocked. Did people really not care to lock houses that were for sale? Wow. He locked the door when he went in.  
The coyote put his bag down near the door and shifted into his animal form, Then he curled up on his jacket and went to sleep.  
That night was odd. Something happened that was very rare for Gabriel: he had a dream. It was short and sweet and he forgot it right after it was over but it was a dream. Most of the time, his dreams left him with a sense of dread and fear - but this dream left him happy.

He woke up the next morning fully rested and ready to go to the diner. He got dressed and was just about to leave when the front door knob started to turn.  
"Oh, shit," he said under his breath. He quickly put his clothes away again and shifted back into animal form. He grabbed his backpack and when the door opened he made a run for it. Some one yelled after him but Gabriel focused on running until he was near the cat lady's house. it was early but people were already bustling around the roads. Gabriel waited on the sidewalk before crossing the street to the cat lady's house. He went around back and slinked into the backyard. The cats were all lined up at the back window, staring at him. He went to the window and stared right back. When he bared his teeth, they all made a run for their owner, leaving Gabriel alone to change.  
He changed into his normal outfit: band shirt, jeans, coat. Then he went out of the backyard to the diner.  
Friday morning was when Sarah didn't work. She took the day off on Friday to do night classes or something. Gabriel didn't like the lady that worked on Fridays. She always joked that she would make Gabriel pay for his coffee. He knew she wasn't serious but it still freaked him out. Her name was Marie. She was one of those people that picked up on things. She knew Gabriel was different because she always said, "No one who is homeless is perfectly okay with it. They ask for help. And you don't do that.”  
“I don't need help,” Gabriel would sigh without a second thought.  
She also questioned where Gabriel got food and he would respond with, "Around. Some people are nice."  
Before last Thursday, that was a lie. Gabriel got most of his food out of trash cans and he was happy with it. It was his life and that's how he had always lived. He never told anyone this, but Marie always seemed to sense that something was up. That Gabriel wasn’t normal.  
She told Gabriel stories about her cousins that went on frequent hunting trips.  
"You know - deer, wolves, the usual stuff," she'd say.  
Gabriel would nod.  
"But sometimes, they get something truly out of the ordinary," she would explain, “Real monsters, ya know?” Gabriel would stare at his coffee.  
He sometimes responded with, "I guess I shouldn't get on their bad side then." But most of the time, he would just nod again and timidly take a sip of his coffee.

Today, none of those conversations happened. Gabriel came in, got his coffee, gave a smile to Marie, and she smiled back.  
It was quiet in the diner and it made Gabriel nervous. Something felt off in the air of the room and it didn't go away until Gabriel finished his coffee and left.  
"Weird..." Gabriel muttered to himself. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He didn't have to worry about lunch today. That was a nice feeling. He just had to worry about not getting bored. Maybe he could talk to Sam... No, that was a bad idea.  
That was a terrible idea.

“Besides, it's Friday. Sam is not at home," Gabriel said to himself, "Maybe next week.” 

Gabriel stood in front of the diner for a while before walking slowly back to the neighborhood. He thought about going to the park to see that dog again but the dog had probably gotten caught and locked inside. How was he supposed to spend his day when nothing happened in the small place he called home?  
He ended up wandering around for quite a while. The school buses started to pass by and the sun threatened to go down. He had eaten about half of his lasagna at lunch and had saved the other half for dinner. He decided that he should sleep at the cat lady's house and so he did.He went through his normal routine of getting ready to sleep but he added the step of eating dinner. He went to sleep with a full stomach and that was a very rare thing. On a normal day, he would have eaten something big a grand total of once a day. But two meals was bizarre.  
It was a boring day but Gabriel thought for sure the next would be better. 

~~~~~  
The tupperware was given back and the conversation that accompanied the event was only slightly awkward, at least on Gabriel’s end.  
Weeks passed and Gabriel started to feel comfortable around the Winchester household. He grew to like the cleanliness and the way Sam treated him. It became a wonderful part to his routine. Thursday turned into his favorite part of the week.  
One Thursday was different though. It was about two months since the original break-in at the Winchester house. Windows had been fixed, meals given, and a small bond was forming. Sam was always the one to open the door. Always. Gabriel had only ever seen the rest of the family through the window in the kitchen. However, Dean answered the door this Thursday. It was a Thursday filled with the smell of rain and thick from the potential downpour. Dean had unexpectedly answered the door and Gabriel took a few steps back in preparation to run.  
Taller than him, wide-set, strong-looking arms. These features were the ones Gabriel noted about Dean that made him shrink away. But Dean didn't come out of the doorway. HHis stance seemed threatening but his face didn't seem so much.  
“Where do you live?” the Winchester asked.  
Gabriel’s ears would have been pinned back on his neck and his tail between his legs if he were in animal form. He managed to stutter out, “I-I sneak in-into people’s backyar-yards and break into the houses for sale down-own a few b-blocks.”  
Dean relaxed and sighed. “Alright. Here's the deal. I talked to my parents and they said this was a good idea: how would you feel about using one of our spare rooms?”  
“Wha--,” Gabriel started to ask but then switched gears. “I don't think I can accept that. I already take your food. I don't want to intrude and, to be fair, I’m kinda disgusting and - and…”  
Dean shook his head, causing Gabriel to stop talking. “It's up to you but I’m just letting you know that the offer is on the table. If you take it up, then we can go through the details later.”  
Gabriel nodded and relaxed slightly, “Okay. Thank you. But I’m going to have to say no. Can I please just get my food?”  
The Winchester nodded and went off for a minute. He came back with the same tupperware container from the weeks before and a smile. “See ya Saturday.”  
The coyote nodded and turned to leave. He was about half a block away when it started pouring and he found he had nowhere close by to hide from it. So reluctantly, he turned around and ran back to the Winchesters'.  
He rang the doorbell as he started shivering. It was a cold rain and it reminded Gabriel of how much he hated the fall and winter seasons. It took a couple of minutes and a few more doorbell rings to get an answer. Mary answered the door this time.  
Gabriel stood before her, shivering and probably looking a pathetic, wet dog. The woman raised an eyebrow. Gabriel looked up at her and said, “I think I’ll take you up on your offer.”  
Mary smiled. "Come on in." She opened the door wide and moved out of the way.  
Gabriel stepped inside and shook his whole body out of instinct. Then he looked to Mary.  
"So where is the room?" he asked  
"It’s upstairs, next to Sam's room. Come on, follow me." Her smile was still on her face as she guided Gabriel up the stairs.  
The stairs led to a hall on the second floor lined with doors on the opposite wall from the stairs. A window was at one end and a closet at the other. The first door in the center opened to a clean, well decorated room, the door to the right had the door closed and rock music blasted behind it. The last door was on the left and Gabriel assumed that was the room he would be using because the door was closed. Also to the left were two other doors that Mary pointed out to be a bathroom and a closet for towels, respectively.  
Gabriel’s new room was simple and nearly empty. It held the bare necessities inside: a bed, a bedside table, and a dresser. Nicer than anything Gabriel had had before… It wasn’t permanent. Oh no - it was a one-night deal and nothing else. Just a place to get out of the rain.  
He took a few steps into the room, looking over the walls and furnishings again. This felt too good to be true.  
"Thank you, Mrs. Mom," Gabriel said with total confidence.  
Mary laughed. "Please call me Mary."  
Gabriel nodded, smiling at Mary. "Thank you, Mary. For the room."  
"Just remember the shower is across the hall. You can stay as long as you want." Then she left.  
Gabriel put his bag down next to the bed. He really couldn't believe he was in a real bedroom with a real bed. Gabriel thought about the shower; it would be nice to get clean, but he was tired. The rain sounded so nice on the windowsill and he just wanted to rest.  
He was asleep not long after laying down on the bed which was warm and soft and felt like a cloud. Some time in the night, he got covered with a blanket. Gabriel woke up the next morning from a deep sleep at around seven in the morning. He normally woke up earlier than that, but then again he had never slept in a real bed. He quickly got up, grabbed his backpack, and left the room.  
On his way to the front door, he ran into Sam at full speed, sending Gabriel to the floor.  
"Ow..." he groaned as he held his head.  
"Hey, are you alright?" Sam asked, leaning down in front of Gabriel.  
Gabriel tried to get up. “I’m fine, I’m fine. I have to go.”  
Sam took Gabriel’s hand and helped him up. “Where are you going?”  
“I’m going to the diner. They give me free coffee,” Gabriel said, picking up his backpack from the floor.  
"Dean just fixed his car - we can give you a ride?"  
"No, I'm fine with walking."  
"Well, okay.. Just remember that you’re welcome to come back here anytime and use that room."  
"Yeah, thanks. Thanks for everything."  
Gabriel shoved past Dean, who was blocking the door, and started walking very quickly down the sidewalk to the diner.  
In the diner, Sarah was cleaning the counter.  
"Well, you’re a little late but I’m glad to see you!"  
"Hi, Sarah. How are your classes?"  
"They're fine. I’m passing and that’s all that matters."  
Gabriel sat down at the counter and pulled out the leftovers.  
"Do you have a microwave I can borrow?"  
"Yeah, sure. Wait - where did you get that food?"  
"A friend gave it to me."  
"I feel like I shouldn't believe you."  
"Well, you should. This family in the neighborhood offered me their leftovers every Thursday. So can I borrow your microwave?" He placed the leftovers on the table for Sarah to put on a plate.  
"How did you get on their good side?"  
"I didn’t really mean too. One of their sons just saw me walking around and offered. He's really nice." Shrugging, Sarah took the container back to the kitchen.  
Gabriel started playing with his hands as he waited. He had a place to stay if he wanted it and it felt weird. He felt off with Sam around. He didn't know why - maybe it was because he was a nice kid. Maybe it was just his features. Gabriel sighed audibly as Sarah came back.  
"What's gotcha down?"  
"Nothing. Just, I don’t know what’s going on in my life anymore."  
"You're too young to have a midlife crisis."  
"No one is too young to have a life crisis. It’s just that this family is really nice but I feel like I'm taking advantage of them and I don’t want to do that."  
"Well, if they’re offering, you aren't taking advantage of them."  
"Yeah, I guess.." Gabriel picked up a fork as Sarah slid the plate in front of him. Gabriel thanked her and started eating. 

~~~~~

A few days went by and Gabriel didn't come by the Winchesters’ house to use the room. He had it in his mind that it was a one time deal and his embarrassing behavior the morning after was not acceptable. So Gabriel didn't even return the tupperware container until the following Thursday.  
The coyote showed up at the normal time and rang the doorbell after debating if he should leave the container and run. He didn't; he rang the doorbell and waited and waited.  
And waited.  
"What's taking so long?" He asked out loud. He started fidgeting in his place as he became impatient.  
Gabriel's waiting paid off when the door opened and Sam stood there, smiling at him. Then they went through the motions:  
"How are you?" "I'm okay. You?" "I’m fine. Here’s your food." The usual.  
Gabriel smiled at Sam as he turned to leave. "Thank you."  
"No problem," Sam said, Gabriel stepped in, "You know, the room is still open to you if you want it."  
"Oh I thought that was just a one time thing. I don't want to intrude." Gabriel put his hands up in defense.  
"You really aren’t. We don't use that room for anything so it’s just for you." Sam tilted his head slightly and started staring.  
"Oh..." Gabriel avoided eye contact and looked at the door, then back at Sam. It was the start of fall and it was getting cold, even in Gabriel's coyote form. Gabriel bit his lip as he weighed his options. Cold outside or warmth in the Winchester’s house. Cold. Warm. Coooold?? Warm? Back and forth.  
Sam broke Gabriel’s train of thought. "It’s starting to get cold. The news said snow might be coming a little early."  
Gabriel took a deep breath and exhaled in resignation. "Okay. I guess I should make myself at home then."  
Sam's smile grew wide and his eyes seemed to sparkle. "Awesome! You remember where your room is, right?" Gabriel nodded and looked at the stairs.  
"Great," Sam said. "I'll get you a towel so you can take a shower. Do you want to wash any of your clothes?"  
Gabriel had never looked at himself in comparison to Sam before, outside of "He's tall. Good features and really nice green eyes." But now he started to notice that Sam was… clean. He didn't have dirt under his nails or on his face. His hair looked soft and well-kept and his teeth shone bright white. Gabriel licked his teeth, suddenly feeling self-conscious of them. He had never really cared about his appearance. Gabriel normally cleaned himself or just ignored the fact that he was disgusting.  
That wouldn't fly in a human house.  
"Um, a shower sounds like a good idea. If you show me how it works..." Gabriel's voice trailed off and his eyes fell to his feet.  
Sam laughed goodnaturedly. “Sure! Just give me a few minutes to throw your stuff in the washer and then I’ll be right up.”  
The two went separate ways, Sam going to the laundry room and Gabriel going up the stairs.  
As Gabriel approached his room, he heard loud music from the opposite end of the hall. Gabriel shook his head, his ears sensitive to the the sounds. He sighed and went into his room. It was the same as when he first saw it; the bed was made and it smelled new and fresh. Gabriel found that interesting. 'They really care about being clean here,' he thought.  
He emptied his backpack of its contents, putting the clothes in one pile and the multiple other things he owned into another. The new leftovers were placed on his bedside table. Then he turned around and went to the bathroom.  
No matter what he could have done, there was no way he could not have noticed the fish. The first thing that caught his attention was the shower curtain. It was big. It was blue. And.. it had a lot of fish on it. There was a toothbrush holder with fish on it. The bathroom carpet had fish on it. Lots of fish. It was really weird to see so many fish in one bathroom alongside white tiles. Gabriel stood in the doorway, wondering at the sheer number of fish as he waited for Sam to come show him how things worked.  
It didn't take long for the tall boy to get to the bathroom. He handed the grey towel to the coyote and went to the shower.  
"So this knob is what controls the temperatures. You pull it out to turn on the water and then turn it left for hot and blah blah blah blah blah."  
Gabriel didn’t mean to but he blanked out for most of Sam's explanation. Sam was bent over the edge of the tub. And he sure as hell had a nice ass. A really nice ass. Gabriel didn’t really have anything to compare it too - he had never really looked at asses before now. BUT Sam had a nice one for sure.  
Suddenly, Sam was standing in front of Gabriel  
"Do you think you understand?"  
Gabriel nodded. "Thanks."  
"You can borrow some of my clothes while yours get cleaned, if you want?"  
"I think I might drown in your clothes, Sam, but sure. I'll leave the ones I’m wearing outside the door."  
"I'll leave my clothes on your bed."  
"Thank you, Sam. You’re a saint."  
Sam chuckled. "I just want to help."  
The tall boy turned around and left the bathroom. Gabriel closed the door after him and started undressing. He went to the shower and turned it to hot.  
Gabriel sighed. "He's too nice..."  
He looked himself over in the mirror, then stepped under the scalding water. The water felt nice on his skin. His hair covered his face. Gabriel looked down at his feet to see dirt footprints on the shower floor wash away down the drain. He moved his hair back to look around at the different soaps and shampoos that lined the tub. He picked up a simple bar of soap and used it to actually clean his body.  
It was different to be wet and not be cold. It wasn't weird. Gabriel could get used to being clean. He started to massage the soap into his hair; he could feel the weeks of grease strip away. He smiled to himself - feeling clean made him feel happy in a new way.  
He got out of the shower and dried himself, then went to his room. On his bed was a pair of shorts, a big t-shirt and a pair of boxers.  
"A saint, really," Gabriel mumbled.  
Gabriel got dressed and sat on his bed. 'Hungry,' he thought as he reached for his food. He opened the container and was about to eat it with his hands like he always did, but realized that spaghetti was probably the worst thing to eat with bare hands. So he got off the bed, went down the stairs, and went searching for the kitchen. He knew where it was but he also wanted to take this as an opportunity to see the parts of the house he hadn’t seen.  
He followed the wall next to the stairs to a doorway that led to a small room with chairs and a table. Pictures hung all around and flowers sat in vases. It was quaint.  
Another doorway led to a short hallway which opened up on the right into a bigger room with two couches and a huge TV. The room was dark except for the television’s light. Mary sat on the couch next to her husband. They didn’t notice him so he left the room before they could. After another minute of wandering, he found himself in the kitchen.  
His mind flashed back to when he broke in but he shook the memory away as he placed the spaghetti on the counter. Gabriel opened up all the cabinets in search of plates. When he found one, he emptied all the spaghetti onto it, then went looking for a fork. After searching through most of the drawers, Gabriel found one full of bright, shiny silverware.  
Gabriel sighed happily and grabbed a fork. However, as soon as he grabbed it, he dropped it. The fork fell back into the drawer with a loud clank.  
“Ow, fuck,” he growled.  
A voice came from the adjacent dining room, “Do you want to microwave that?”  
Gabriel jumped and turned to see Sam. He took a deep breath and waved the offer away. “No, it’s fine.”  
“What happened to your hand?” Sam walked into the kitchen and pointed to Gabriel’s hand.  
The coyote looked down at his hand. Burns cracked and reddened his fingertips and his palm. Gabriel used all his will to refrain from hissing in pain.  
"I… uh." Gabriel looked back at the drawer. "Is this stuff silver?"  
"Yeah. That’s the silverware we use for special occasions." Sam got closer and closed the drawer, opening the one to the right. That drawer was one Gabriel hadn’t checked. "We use these for everyday stuff."  
Gabriel nodded and reached for a fork with his unburned hand. He smiled in relief when it didn’t burn. Then he turned to his plate, picking it up carefully and carrying it to the dining room table.  
Sam followed after Gabriel and asked again, "What happened to your hand?"  
"It’s nothing." Gabriel waved him off as he placed the plate in front of his chosen seat.  
"But it’s-," Sam stopped himself, then spoke again calmly. "Can I just see?" He reached for Gabriel's hand. The coyote's eyes grew narrow and he pulled his hand away from Sam.  
"It. Is. Nothing," He pressed his words, hoping Sam would drop the issue.  
It worked. Sam took his hand away and dropped his gaze.  
'He has good instincts,' Gabriel thought to himself, 'Good. There is hope for him yet.'  
Gabriel kept his hand away from Sam as he ate his spaghetti at a slower speed than normal. When he was done, he stood up and thought to put it in the sink. But, without thinking, he accidentally grabbed it with his burned hand and immediately dropped it.  
"SHIT!" he yelled. The plastic plate bounced on the floor slightly and the fork fell with a faint clank.  
Sam jumped at Gabriel's outburst, immediately getting to his feet. "Are you alright?" he asked, ignoring the plate on the floor and taking Gabriel's hand.  
"You’re burned pretty bad. Let me get the first-aid kit," Sam stated, grabbing Gabriel's wrist and dragging him back to the kitchen.  
Sam turned on the cold water and put Gabriel's hand underneath. Gabriel pulled his hand right back out and growled at Sam.  
"You need to keep your hand under the water," Sam insisted as he forced Gabriel's hand back under the water.  
Gabriel pulled his hand back out. "BUT IT HURTS."  
"So?! This is how you make it better," the taller boy said.  
"But it hurts," Gabriel whined as his hand was put back under the water.  
"Just keep it there, okay?" Sam said, then went searching for the first aid kit.  
Sam's dad came in from the living room. "What’s going on in here?"  
Sam got the kit off the top of the fridge and went back over to the sink. He looked at his dad and said, "Gabriel burned his hand so I'm gonna wrap up the wound."  
John nodded and rubbed the scruff on his chin. "Right... Make sure to put aloe on it. The aloe is in the medicine cabinet in the guest bathroom."  
"Thanks, dad." Sam smiled at his father, then went back to digging out the bandages.  
"You’re welcome, kid," John said as he walked by, ruffling Sam's hair on the way to the fridge to get a beer. After grabbing one, Sam's dad went back to the living room  
Gabriel rolled his eyes at the sign of affection and moved his hand around under the water until Sam left. He pulled his hand out of the water and shook it somewhat dry.  
"I hate getting my paws wet when they don't need to be," Gabriel muttered to himself. "A shower is fine, but just holding it under water? That’s stupid."  
Gabriel put his hand back under the water when Sam entered the room with the aloe.  
"Okay, give me your hand," Sam ordered, holding out his own to Gabriel.  
“Why?" Gabriel asked.  
"I'm going to put this aloe on your burn to help it heal and then I'm going to wrap it up in this bandage," Sam explained.  
Gabriel tilted his head. "I'll be fine. I've burned myself before."  
Sam rolled his eyes and grabbed Gabriel's hand, pouring aloe all over it.  
Gabriel pulled his hand away again and growled at Sam as he tried to shake the aloe off. He took a few steps away to avoid Sam's advances.  
"I don’t need help!" Gabriel growled.  
"Yes, you do," Sam said, raising his voice and trying to grab Gabriel's hand again.  
"NO I DON'T," Gabriel yelled back.  
Sam was starting to corner Gabriel against the window. The coyote started to panic. His breathing quickened and his eyes widened.  
"Sam. Stop it," he begged.  
"Let me help you," Sam insisted.  
"Sam I don't need help. Please don’t make me hurt you. I don’t want to hurt you," Gabriel said. His voice was shaky. He hoped his body language would translate to the human to back off.  
It took Sam a moment to read Gabriel but he started to retreat after a second. He raised his hands and nodded. "Alright, alright. Fine. I'll let you take care of yourself."  
Gabriel started to back off of the window. They walked around each other at a safe distance until Gabriel was at the counter next to the sink. He grabbed the bandages and wrapped them around his hand quickly.  
"There," Gabriel said to Sam, "Is that what you wanted?"  
Sam let out the breath he was holding, "Yes, thank you."  
Thunder rumbled outside breaking the tension and they both jumped. Gabriel instinctively made a run for it even though he knew he was inside, while Sam was left in the kitchen, confused. Gabriel ran back to his room and slammed the door.  
Sam cleaned up the first-aid kit and the aloe that had gotten flung around in the kitchen. He thought about how odd Gabriel acted. It was like the boy was some sort of animal, growling and whining when in pain, almost lashing out when cornered. It just didn’t seem right but Sam just sighed, grabbed a soda, and went back to his room to finish his homework for the night.  
Gabriel relaxed in his room. This was his room. His. It was a weird feeling to have something that wasn’t just a backpack and some old food containers.  
The rain started to fall in big drops on his new window. Gabriel sat on his bed and watched the rain. From the inside, rain was relaxing and almost beautiful. He couldn’t smell it as clearly as he could if he were outside, but he felt better knowing his stuff wasn’t getting wet. He felt better in the warmth of this house he found himself in. The blankets on his bed were soft and his bed was cushy.  
The Winchesters seemed nice. The house was solid and quiet. It was a lot better than being outside for the night. Gabriel curled up in his blanket and went to sleep without a problem.  
He could get used to living in a house. 

~~~~~  
A week went by. Gabriel’s burn healed quickly and he was starting to get along with the Winchesters. Gabriel didn't go to school with Sam or Dean; he just went about his normal day of wandering the neighborhood, going to the diner (but finding he was too late to get his coffee), and coming back to the Winchesters’ in time for dinner.  
It became a quick and easy routine, even for a week, but Gabriel started to not mind. He and Sam began to become close, Sam started to study the lunar cycle for "the umpteenth time" in his science class. To Sam's surprise, Gabriel knew a lot about it - for someone who had never gone to school.  
On Tuesday, he stayed at the house to talk to Mary and on Wednesday, he slept all day. But no matter how nicely everything was going, something loomed over the coyote during the whole week.  
Friday came.  
"Gabriel, where are you going?" Sam leaned on Gabriel's bedroom door.  
Gabriel was packing up his backpack for the night. The sun was starting to go down and time was of the essence. He had to get out. For everyone's safety, he had to leave.  
Gabriel never had had to worry about other people during full moons before. But now.  
He had to leave. He wasn’t exactly the nicest person to be around.  
"I'll be back in the morning. I just need to..." Gabriel pulled his backpack over his shoulder and stood in front of Sam. "I just need to get out for a bit."  
"But you leave all day, everyday," Sam said  
"Yeah, during the day. I need to leave for the night," Gabriel said as he started to walk towards the stairs  
Sam followed after Gabriel. "But there’s a forecast for rain tonight."  
The coyote got to the front door and opened it, then turned around to face the taller boy  
He sighed. "Look. It doesn’t matter what the weather will be like. I’ve gone through worse."  
Leaving Sam open-mouthed, Gabriel turned back to the door and left. 

~~~~~ 

The door clicked shut. Sam stared at the door for a few minutes, wondering what it all meant.  
Dean came running down the stairs. "Trouble in paradise?" he joked as he walked by.  
Sam shrugged and turned to go to the living room. Dean stopped, waiting for his brother when he didn’t receive a reply.  
"What’s up?" Dean questioned.  
“Gabriel left," Sam answered simply. He walked closely to Dean, looking sad.  
Dean shoved Sam’s shoulder. "Aw. come on. He said he was coming back, right?"  
Sam shrugged again. “I hope so. I really like having him around.”  
“Yeah, he is really cool. But hey! It’s a full moon tonight. I guess he’s one of the crazies that goes out.” Dean grabbed the remote for the TV and sat down.  
“You want anything from the kitchen?” Sam offered.  
“Nah, I’m fine. Come sit down, Unnatural is gonna start soon.” Dean pat the couch cushion next to him and started searching the channels.  
“Isn’t that show running out of ideas?” Sam huffed as he sat down.  
“Don’t be ridiculous, Sammy! How can you run out of ideas for a show with demons, angels, monster, and ghosts!” Dean said excitedly.  
“I don’t know - Shelby and Delaney have been arguing about the Mark of Cain for, like, half a season,” Sam stated. “ And they don’t even know where the blade is.”  
“But they need the mark to kill that mega douche, Abaddon, or else the blade is useless. I think the mark is a good investment,” Dean pointed out.  
“You would think that the sign of corruption would be a good investment,” Sam mumbled . The show card for Unnatural hovered in the center of the TV screen, then flashed away.  
Sam muttered, “You’d think that after nine seasons, they’d have a theme song.”  
“That’s what the flashback thingy is for,” Dean countered.  
Shelby appeared on the screen, sittingin the bunker studying some ancient text. Then Delaney walked in and the drama began. Throughout the episode, they argued and also went on another hunt. Their prey was a werewolf, a powerful creature that had gone on a huge hunting spree in a small town.  
Shelby and Delaney had just walked out of a bar, checking their guns and telling each other how many shots they had when -  
OWrrrr Eyy EYy EERROOWW  
Sam and Dean nearly jumped off the couch.  
“What the hell was that?” Dean yelled.  
“That sounded like some kind of dog,” Sam said. He gripped his chest as he tried to steady his breathing  
"That was NOT a dog. Dogs don’t scream like that." Dean took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.  
Sam got up and headed for the kitchen as he called back to Dean, "I'm gonna go check it out."  
"Wait! SAM!" Dean scrambled to his feet and went after Sam. "It might be dangerous. What if it’s a wolf or something?"  
Sam already had a flashlight in hand and was out the back door. The back porch light was on in addition to the light of the full moon. Sam walked slowly onto the grass as he kept the flashlight pointed past the fence. The air was still. Dean stopped at the back door and watched warily.  
The younger boy stopped near the fence and suddenly dropped his flashlight, the tool hitting the grass with a dull thud Just beyond the fence was a pair of glowing eyes. The body of the creature seemed huge and, from what Sam could tell, furry. It stood on its back legs and seemed to be shaking.  
Sam was stuck in a sort of trance. He didn’t know why but he couldn’t bring himself to move. Goosebumps started to cover his skin in the chill air.  
The creature let out a low growl as if in warning, but Sam didn’t move.  
"SAMMY!" Dean yelled from the door. He hadn’t seen the creature yet. "SAMMY, COME BACK INSIDE!"  
Sam's breathing picked up as adrenaline filled his veins. Then he ran.  
Sam ran back inside and all the way to his room. Dean followed close behind after, leaving the back door open.  
"Sam?" He stopped at Sam's bedroom door, only to find his younger brother staring out the window with his phone to his ear. "Sam? What's wrong?"  
The creature had already left from behind the backyard and was no where to be seen. Dean thought that Sam was going crazy but, then again, his brother didn’t scare that easily.  
"Gabriel is still out there, Dean," Sam said lowly as he listened to the dial tone.  
Dean took a few steps toward Sam's bed, waiting for the phone to pick up.  
The line went through. "Yes, hello?" Sam said, "Yeah. There’s a big, uh... bear thing outside of my house... No, it hasn’t attacked anything. It… No, I didn’t get a good look at it but it was standing on its back legs and it was huge and furry. Its eyes were glowing and it was - well, it’s gone now but I think it went west and my friend left for the night and he might still be out there. He could have...Oh, okay. Um, Dean what's our address?"  
Dean told him but Sam had a feeling that nothing would be done about this issue. The big brother rested a hand on Sam's shoulder as he hung up the phone.  
"They said they would send animal control our way but..." Sam’s breathing lacked a rhythm.  
Dean squeezed Sam's shoulder as he said "Look, I am willing to bet that Gabriel is going to be fine. He's been living on his own for a long time and he's coming back in the morning, right?"  
Sam nodded, his breathing starting to steady. "I--I think it’s time to go to bed… We can watch the rest of Unnatural online." He licked his lips and kept nodding as he looked up at Dean. "Right?"  
Dean pat Sam's shoulder. "Right." He sighed, then pulled Sam into a crushing hug. "It’s going to be alright, Sam. It’s just a bear or something."  
Sam nodded again, his eyes started to get heavy. He laid down as Dean stood up and made to leave the room, stopping in the doorway for a moment.  
"See you in the morning, Sammy," Dean said gently.  
Sam drowsily replied, "Stop calling me Sammy."  
~~~~~  
Gabriel rang the doorbell just before ten the next morning. It had been a tough night. Shifting against his will was never his favorite part of the curse. He was starving and barely standing on his two, human feet. He managed to get dressed and to the Winchesters' in pretty good time but it wasn't as if he had been very far from them.  
He growled at every animal that passed and even growled when the door was opened for him. He didn't pay attention to who let him in but he hoped it was Sam.  
The coyote was gently corralled toward the dining room and told to sit. It felt nice to be off his feet. It was nice to be in a somewhat silent environment. He zoned out for a few minutes until the wonderful smell of food flooded his nose. That was definitely Mary.  
He looked into the kitchen to see the blond woman standing over the stove. The next moment, he was given eggs in front of him and a warning that they were hot. Despite the warning, Gabriel dug in with his hands and ignored the pain in his fingers and mouth. He was too hungry to care really.  
During most full moon shifts, he would try to hunt to ease the hunger, but something had distracted him last night. Really, he couldn't remember much from his shifts, just that they happened and that he burned a lot of energy.  
When he was finished, he was handed a stack of napkins. Gabriel stared at them for a second before picking one up and wiping his hands.  
"Sorry," he said under his breath. "Uh, do we have anything left in the fridge... or more eggs? I'm still pretty hungry." Mary took a seat next to him.  
"We have some more eggs but you'll have to make them yourself."  
Gabriel looked at her, then shrugged. "Yeah sure, but I don't know how to cook."  
"I can help you with that, but first - can you answer a question?"  
"Yeah, sure," Gabriel said quietly, busying himself with another napkin to clean his fingers.  
"Where did you go last night?" Mary asked plainly. Gabriel took a deep breath and shifted his eyes around the room. "You know, we offered you the room because we wanted to help you avoid doing things that could hurt you," the woman said in a worried motherly tone. Gabriel bit his lip and bobbed his head slightly.  
"Yeah, I know. I wasn't doing drugs. I just had some stuff to take care of."  
"Do you owe people money?" she inquired.  
The coyote shook his head. "No. I just had some personal things to take care of. I had to get out of the house and compose my thoughts and junk like that." Mary hummed in understanding.  
"Did you know there was a wild animal roaming around last night?"  
Gabriel pointedly trained his gaze on her forehead. "Yeah, there are wild animals everywhere."  
"Well, Sam saw this one and called the police about it because he was worried about you," she said in a voice  
Gabriel suddenly felt worried and tried to hide it from his face. "Was he attacked?"  
"No, but he was pretty freaked out. Dean said it was a bear but it was standing on its hind legs."  
"Bears can walk on their hind legs," Gabriel pointed out.  
"That's true." Mary considered the comment. "Well, that's all I wanted to talk about." She pushed off the table to stand.  
Gabriel's eyes followed her to the kitchen. She gestured for him to follow her and he obeyed.  
"Do you want to learn scrambled eggs or over-easy?" She asked as she opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of eggs.  
Gabriel thought over the two terms and tried to determine which would be easier. He settled on, "Scrambled, please.”  
Gabriel's first attempts at making scrambled eggs were fire hazards. Mary remained patient the entire time, and on the third attempt his eggs turned out pretty edible. Gabriel was proud of himself but as he sat down to eat the fruits of his labor, he found that the eggs tasted rubbery.  
He scrunched up his nose and sighed in disappointment.  
"You get better with practice," Mary said softly.  
Gabriel grumbled agreement and finished off the eggs reluctantly. Hunger was an evil beast that haunted his stomach but he didn't want to make more.  
It was at that point when Dean came downstairs, automatically going for the fridge.  
Gabriel still sat at the dining room table, staring at his plate in his tired state.  
Dean closed the fridge, moving to a cabinet to get a glass then filling it with water.  
"Good morning, Mom," he said quietly. Dean drank his water then looked over to Gabriel. "Hey, Gabe."  
Gabriel lifted a hand momentarily. Dean nodded then went to scope out the fridge again.  
Sam came down not long after. He stretched, yawned, then went to look over Dean's shoulder at the fridge.  
"Can you hand me the orange juice?" Sam asked.  
Dean reached in, grabbed the juice, and handed it to Sam. Sam took it, shuffling to a cabinet and pouring himself a glass. Sam looked over to the table and suddenly seemed awake. He walked over to the table and sat next to Gabriel.  
"Hey..." Gabriel greeted.  
"Where did you go last night?" Sam asked  
"Your mom already did that song and dance. Ask her." Gabriel looked over at Mary, who was washing the pan they had used to make eggs, then back to his plate. He wanted more food but he didn't want to cook again.  
"But I want to hear it from you," Sam pushed.  
Gabriel rolled his eyes then reluctantly answered, "I went to one of the houses for sale after walking around the neighborhood."  
"Did you know there was a wild animal on the loose?"  
Gabriel shrugged. "Yeah, it made some weird yipping noises. Sounded like a coyote. Nothing to be worried about." Mary looked up from what she was rinsing like she had had some sort of realisation or that something had just connected.  
Gabriel looked over to Mary from Sam and his eyes grew in alarm.  
"Look. Sam. I'm tired. I had a busy night and I need to get some rest." Gabriel got up and took his plate to the sink. After initially following Gabriel with his eyes, Sam then got up and trailed after the shorter boy towards the stairs.  
Gabriel went up the stairs with Sam not far behind. Gabriel got to his bedroom door before turning around.  
"Sam, what do you want?" he asked in a slightly annoyed tone.  
"I'm just worried about you," Sam answered sincerely.  
Gabriel didn't know how to respond. He had hoped that after leaving for the night, he would come back to not being missed - this was weird. Sam seemed genuinely concerned and it kind of put Gabriel off. Gabriel wasn't used to this because he was used to not being around people for extended periods of time. He liked being around them and he was starting to open up around them but he still wasn’t quite used to how humans worked.  
"What do you mean?" Gabriel pushed. "No one worries about me.”  
"Well, I do. You've lived by yourself for so long and you just leave even though you have a home to come to. It's weird and it worries me," Sam explained. "I care about you."  
The coyote tilted his head as he looked up at Sam. His hand rested on the door knob and his mouth hung open.  
"Uh..." Gabriel's eyes shifted around the space between them.  
They were standing rather close and Gabriel could feel himself gravitating to Sam. Sam’s scent filled his nose. Sam smelled like clean clothes, oak trees, and some weird musky scent. Gabriel could pick Sam out of a crowd if he ever found himself in one. Over the past weeks, Gabriel had started to like the way Sam smelled the most. The scent warmed him and made him feel all fuzzy.  
Gabriel let out some strange noises as he tried to collect his thoughts, "Uhh Sam, I really need to sleep..."  
There was a pause before Sam nodded. "Okay, I understand." Then he pulled Gabriel into a hug.  
Sam was warm but that wasn't the first thing Gabriel noticed. Gabriel noticed the way Sam's scent enveloped him. The way Sam’s arms awkwardly wrapped around his body and the way Sam's breathing was rhythmic. The way Sam’s heart was beating a little too fast to be normal. And the warmth. Gabriel liked it. It felt different, like Sam really cared.  
However, Gabriel didn't know what to do with his own arms. He figured he'd wrap them around Sam so that's what he did, but then Sam pulled away.  
'Did I... do something wrong? I want more of that,’ Gabriel thought as he watched Sam go down the stairs. A bit dazed, he closed his door, locked it, and went to go to sleep.

~~~~~  
Over the next few weeks, Sam and Gabriel started to get closer. Gabriel would plan his routes through the neighborhood so he would get back to the Winchesters' just before the boys did. They talked more and more. Gabriel would sit with Sam while he did homework and Sam would tell him to shut up because math is hard. Sam really didn't mind Gabriel’s talk though; in fact, he really liked listening to the boy ramble on and on about the dog he met on his walk. Gabriel enjoyed listening to Sam talk about his school day and telling him about his friends. Gabriel was coming out of his shell and it made Sam so happy. Dean started joking about them dating. Gabriel didn't understand what “dating” was. But Sam got upset, so he got upset.  
Gabriel had also started a long string of pranking attempts on Dean. The successful ones included replacing Dean’s lunch with worms and filling his pillow with dirt. Sam also gave some input with the glue in shampoo while Gabriel executed it.  
All the fun didn't change the fact that Sam got worried every time Gabriel left for the whole night and he worried about Gabriel even more when he realised the only nights he left were on those with a full moon. He had hoped that getting closer to Gabriel would stop him from leaving but it didn't seem to be working. Sam stayed up as late as he could on those nights, in case Gabriel came home early. But he always dozed off at around two in the morning.  
Every morning, Gabriel would be let back in the house by Sam’s mom and he would make himself eggs. He was becoming pretty good when it came to scrambled eggs; he had even started to add pepper and salt. Mary was beginning to think up different things to teach Gabriel, like omelets or pasta. 

Gabriel flopped down on Sam’s bed, spreading out as much as he could and staring at the ceiling. Sam walked in not long after.  
“What are you doing, Gabe?” Sam asked, placing his backpack down near his desk.  
“I’m taking your bed. It is mine now,” he answered in a monotone voice.  
Sam pointed towards the wall that connected the two rooms. “Your room is right next door.”  
“Yeah, I know.” Gabriel sat up. “I just like your room though. It feels warmer.”  
Sam paused, then said, “Um, yeah. I like it too.”  
The human sat down at his desk and started to take out the things he needed to work on. Gabriel watched Sam work quietly. He didn't understand half of the stuff the human was working on but he still liked watching the process.  
~~~~~

“Here you go, honey.” Mary smiled and handed Gabriel ten dollars.  
Gabriel held the currency like it was bad meat. He knew what it was but he had never used it. He didn’t like the idea of money - it always seemed to cause problems.  
“What is this for?” the coyote asked.  
“Dean said he was going to the store with Sam and I figured that if you went, you would want to buy something.” She put down her wallet and went to the kitchen, Gabriel following.  
The coyote had, on many occasions throughout the past months, considered himself part of the Winchester family. However, those considerations were often pushed aside for a while after his moonlit transformations. Besides that, he thought the relationship he had with the family was beyond giving out money, but Gabriel shoved the bill in his pocket and didn’t vocally question it further. Gabriel went into the living room and stared out the window for a while before Sam came and sat next to him.  
“Are you ready to go to the store?” Sam asked as he tied his shoes.  
Gabriel shrugged. “Never been to the store before.”  
Sam furrowed his brow. “Really?”  
“Yeah. I never had money so I just never went. I like the neighborhood better.”  
“Oh.” Sam sat back on the couch and watched out the window with Gabriel. “I see.”  
The pair turned their heads as they heard the loud clunks of two big boots lumbering down the hall. Dean’s face lit up with a cocky grin as he playfully punched them both on their arms. “You losers ready to go?”  
Sam stood up almost immediately and offered a hand to help Gabriel up. Gabriel ignored it and got up on his own. He didn’t need help he was a big, strong were-coyote. Who don’t need no man.  
After a short drive, the trio arrived at the store. Gabriel stared at it as the Impala’s door slammed shut behind him. This was a store Gabriel had never been far enough in the city to see. The sign read “Walmart” in flashy yellow letters as swarms of people, that Gabriel was certainly unused to, milled under it.  
Sam and Dean walked in with Gabriel close behind. Dean got a cart and went around the store, grabbing a bunch of different things ranging from food to shampoo.  
Sam didn’t get anything but he held Gabriel’s hand to make sure he didn’t get lost.Gabriel didn’t know what to do. He asked.  
“We’re shopping. You can buy anything in this store,” Sam told him.  
“Oh, well, do you need to hold my hand?”  
“No, but you seemed pretty starstruck when you walked in and I dont want to lose you.” Sam looked down at Gabriel with his puppy-dog eyes.  
Gabriel’s face turned red and he looked away from Sam.  
They weaved their way through the store until they walked by the candy aisle. The smell of sugar instantly caught Gabriel’s nose and he let go of Sam’s hand. He wandered into the aisle with his mouth wide in amazement. There was so much more candy in this store than in the gas station.  
Sam went after Gabriel and was about to yell when he saw how happy Gabriel seemed.  
“Is this stuff for sale?” Gabriel asked innocently.  
Sam chuckled. “Yeah. Mom gave you money, right? You can buy some if you want.”  
Gabriel went for the gummy bears, skittles, and lollipops. He held them in his arms as if they were precious and went with Sam back to the cart. Gabriel paid for himself and left the store happy as a clam. The coyote stashed the candy in his room and savored it slowly throughout the next few weeks.

 

~~~~~

Gabriel was faced with another full moon. He packed his things like he always did and wandered the house to make sure everyone was safe. Dean was in his room. Mary and John were drinking whiskey in the kitchen. And Sam was in the living room. Gabriel nodded to Sam as he turned from the sitting room to the front door.  
Sam stood up and followed.  
“Sam, I thought you were used to this,” Gabriel sighed. His hand rested on the doorknob and he shifted his backpack. “I need to go.”  
“Why do you need to go? You have never tell me why.”  
“Why do you need to know?” Gabriel turned to face Sam. “It is nothing you need to concern yourself with.”  
“Yes. It is.” Sam put a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder.  
“Why?” Gabriel stood on his toes to get on the same level as Sam.  
“I care about you. A lot. I don’t want you to get hurt.”  
Gabriel stared at Sam’s nose, but Sam kept looking into his eyes. That felt threatening.  
“Let’s take this outside.” Gabriel turned to open the door.  
“Why won’t you tell me anything, Gabriel?”  
Gabriel ignored him, stepping out the door. Sam couldn’t help but follow.  
Sam closed the door. “Gabriel, is there someone else you’re seeing? Are you involved in drugs?” He started to raise his voice. “Why can’t you tell me anything??”  
The coyote bristled. “Would it make you feel better if I told you something terrible? Because it would be a lie.”  
Sam stepped closer. “Then tell me the truth.”  
Gabriel looked up at the sky to see if the moon had started to rise. The sun was still sinking over the horizon, painting the sky in shades of pinks and oranges.  
“If I tell you, you won't believe me,” Gabriel said.  
“Why wouldnt I?”  
“Because it’s not something normal people believe.”  
“Try me.” Sam challenged.  
Gabriel took a deep breath, looking at his feet, then up at Sam. Sam’s eyes were filled with hope and willingness. After the long months they had spent together and the endless fluttering Gabriel felt when he was with Sam, Gabriel had hoped his secret wouldn't have to come out.  
‘Maybe he really won’t care. We are close enough that he would believe me… But what if he thinks I’m lying? What if he hates me?’ Gabriel thought as he looked at Sam. But looking into his eyes, seeing that defiant trust. He knew that reasoning would not get him anywhere anymore. teamwork WOO  
“Alright,” Gabriel sounded defeated, “I… am a coyote.”  
“What?”  
That one word is hit Gabriel in the gut. Maybe this is what becoming roadkill felt like. Gabriel knew he wouldn't understand. How could anyone understand?  
Gabriel turned away. “Nevermind. I knew you wouldn't understand.”  
“Gabriel, Just explain what you mean,” Sam insisted  
“What’s the point? Even if I explain everything, you still aren't going to get it.” Gabriel started to walk down the steps of the porch. “I’ll just leave and I won’t come back. Sorry for wasting SO many months of your life.”

Before Gabriel even stepped onto the pavement, Sam made a sound of frustration, catching the shorter boy’s shoulder. He turned Gabriel around, grabbed his face - and kissed him.  
The coyote’s eyes grew wide and despite all the screaming instincts, he stood stockstill. Sam pulled away, breathless.  
“What was that?” Gabriel asked.  
“I love you.” Sam said quickly, “I want to understand everything about you. Everything, Gabriel. So please, please, please tell me what is going on.” Sam shook him slightly by the arms as he spoke.  
Gabriel nodded, his eyes still wide. He wasn't really sure what to do after a confession like that.  
When Gabriel spoke again, after a long, tense moment, he explained everything to Sam. How he could transform into a coyote and how - on nights with full moons - he transformed into a half-man-half-coyote creature. Sam called it a werewolf.  
“I am not a werewolf. Werewolves are bloodthirsty monsters. I am not bloodthirsty.” Gabriel informed the human indignantly.  
Then he looked up at the sky again. The sun was gone and the moon was starting to rise.  
Gabriel took a few steps back. “Sam, I need to go. I’m going to start transforming soon.”  
“Take me with you.” The coyote turned around to face Sam with an incredulous look on his face.  
“Are you sure?”  
The human nodded. After a momentary whirl of emotions, Gabriel decided.  
“Give me your arm,” he ordered. Sam obliged.  
Gabriel grabbed his wrist, pulling it to his mouth before chomping down. Sam cried out in pain. The bite broke the skin, the wound starting to bleed when he released his hold. But a few seconds later, the mark was gone, only faint bloodstains remaining.  
Gabriel took Sam’s hand and pulled him down the sidewalk. “Come on. We need to find a safe place for the night.” Sam grinned in reply, his wonderful green eyes already beginning to glow in the dim moonlight.  
“I’m your boy.”

The End

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY SABRIEL BIG BANG!!  
> This was so much fun to write and i really hope you enjoyed this fic!  
> Again check out tricksterangelgabriel.tumblr.com  
> or SlashGod on AO3


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